Method of launching a balloon



May 10, 1955 B, MOQRE |A| 2,708,082

' METHOD 'OF .LAUNCHING BALLooN I y Filed Feb. 27, 1955 Il A v INVENToRs CHARLES a. Moons Ju. 4b.- .1' BY WILLIAM F. HUGH n United States Patent Oice 2,708,082 Patented May 10, 1955 METHOD F LAUNCHING A BALLOON Charles B. Moore, Robbinsdale, and William F. Huch,

St. Paul, Minn., assignors to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army Application February 27, 1953, Serial No. 339,347

Claims. (Cl. 244-31) This invention relates to a method of launching balloons and particularly to the launching of small balloons such as those used in meteorological study and exploration wherein telemetering instruments or other devices are carried by the balloon.

The method employs a launching line attached to the balloon having its free end held at a substantially fixed point while the line is slipped thru an eye or other device by moving the eye toward the end of the line. The direction and speed of movement of the eye are adjusted to compensate for the tendency of the ground wind currents to slant the balloon. Thus the balloon may be kept in a vertical position during its initial ascent and when the line is completely payed out it is freed and its load is picked up vertically at a predictable point where an operative may readily lift the load or in other ways minimize the shock of acceleration upon the devices included in the load.

lt is a principal object of the invention to provide a more eliicient manner of launching a balloon.

A further object of the invention is to provide a balloon launching method which greatly minimizes undesirable shock disturbance to the load.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a balloon launching method wherein the balloon is launched with maximum vertical acceleration independently of wind conditions.

Other objects and features will more fully appear from the following description and will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

To provide a better understanding of the invention a particular embodiment thereof will be described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. l is a schematic View showing the initial arrangement for carrying out the method and Fig. 2 is a schematic view showing the balloon about to be released.

The invention may be used in the launching of many different types of balloons to be used for a wide variety of purposes. The example to be described herein presents the application of the invention to the launching of meteorological balloons and particularly to such balloons adapted to carry meteorological or other types of instruments for recording or transmitting data at high altitudes.

One such balloon is shown schematically in Fig. l the bag 3 of which desirably is given a streamlined contour to facilitate its vertical ascent. A load ring 4 or other suitable means is secured to the bottom of the bag to which is fastened a launching line 5 and a load line 6. The load line may be provided with a parachute 7 and a casing 8 containing instruments or other devices.

The principle involved in the invention is to provide a procedure for launching the balloon while maintaining it in a vertical position despite the tendency of air currents to tip the balloon into angular position during its initial upward movement. Such angular position is very undesirable when'launching the balloon because the ascent velocity is reduced thus canceling out the beneficial effect of the streamlining of the bag 3. in some instances it is highly important to provide maximum ascent velocity as well as a predictable and consistent vertical acceleration. If the balloon is in a slanting position these objectives are diicnlt to obtain.

ln the practice of the invention the above undesirable limitations are greatly minimized and the whole procedure of launching is made more eicient and consistent.

lt will also appear from the following description of the method that shock forces conducted to the instruments or other objects in the load are greatly reduced by the practice of the inventiton thus preventing damage and insuring that data obtained will be accurate.

The launching procedure is as follows:

After inflation the balloon is temporarily held at ground position and its launching line 5 is extended substantially horizontally in the direction of the ground air movement and its free end is temporarily held in some manner as by one member 9 of the launching crew.

The launching line 5 is threaded thru an eye 1) or other device to permit the line to be free running therethru. The eye is held by an operative 11 or by other means at a position close to the balloon. The above arrangement applies tension all along the launching line as a result of the upward pull of the balloon.

The load line 6, if there is to be a load attached to the balloon, is arranged along and substantially parallel to the launching line as shown in Fig. l of the drawing with the load situated near the end of the launching line which is being held.

To start the ascent of the balloon the eye 10 is moved along in the direction of the anchor point of the launching line, in other words, in the direction of the air currents. By this means the launching line is payed out as it slips freely thru the eye lt). While the line is thus payed out the speed or" movement of the eye 1t? is controlled to maintain the balloon in a vertical position as it rises. This speed should be just suliicient to overcome the vector of force due to wind which would tilt the balloon if it were being launched from a fixed point.

When the eye 10 has reached the end of the launching line the line is released and the ballon is freed. If desired at this time the load S may be lifted upward at the same moment that the slack in the load line has been taken up thus easing the shock of acceleration upon the load.

It is within the scope of the invention to provide mechanical means for performing the methods. The manual method herein presented is merely an example of one means for performing the methods.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of launching a balloon having a launching line comprising paying out the launching line and while so doing moving the ground point at which the line is being payed out in the direction of the wind to maintain the line and the balloon in a vertical position during its upward movement and freeing the balloon by releasing the line.

2. A method of launching a balloon having a launching line comprising fixing the free end of the line, extending the line substantially horizontally toward the direction of existing winds, controllably releasing the balloon by paying out the line while simultaneously moving the paying out point toward the xed end of the line at a speed which will maintain the balloon substantially vertical while it rises and freeing the balloon by releasing the line.

3. A method of launching a balloon having a launching line comprising fixing the free end of line, extending the line substantially horizontally toward the direction of existing winds, permitting the lift of the balloon to maintain tension in the line, controllably releasing the balloon by moving the paying out point along the ground toward the xed end of the launching line at a speed to maintain 3 the balloon vertical during its ascent and freeing the ballloon by releasing the line.

4. A method of launching a balloon having a launching line and a load line comprising extending said lines along a substantially horizontal surface toward the direction from which the wind is blowing holding the free end of the launching line While simultaneously moving the paying out point toward the xed end of the launching line at a speed which will maintain the balloon substantially vertical while it rises and freeing the balloon by releasing the launching line, and simultaneously lifting the load attached to the load line to minimize shock of its initial acceleration.

5. A method af launching a balloon having a launching line comprising temporarily anchoring the free end of the launching line, extending the line substantially horizontally from the anchor point in the direction from which existing air currents are moving, establishing a free running paying out point for the launching line, moving the paying out point toward the anchor point at a speed calculated to maintain the balloon in a vertical position while it rises and releasing the launching line.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

